'NPCSC Didn't Discuss Barring District Councillors'

The National People's Congress standing committee (NPCSC) concluded its latest meeting on Saturday, with no announcement on the future of Hong Kong's district councillors.

Reports were rife that Beijing might move to disqualify some pro-democracy members after it stripped four pan-democrat lawmakers of their seats in November.

The pro-democracy camp won last year's district council elections by a landslide, gaining majorities in all but one of the 18 districts. Reports said councils could also lose their role in the committee that elects the chief executive and its five so-called "superseats" in Legco.

Tam Yiu-chung, the SAR's sole delegate to the NPCSC, said Hong Kong was never on the agenda in the latest meeting, saying people chose to believe in rumours rather than what he had said.

Asked whether the item was withdrawn, he said the agenda was set by the chairman and he didn't know about the deliberation process.

Tam, however, declined to speculate whether the NPCSC would discuss the councillors' qualification in future, saying the next meeting is expected in February - a month before the annual parliament session.

On the 12 Hongkongers who are going to be tried in Shenzhen on Monday behind closed doors for allegedly crossing the border illegally, the Beijing loyalist said authorities are concerned with cases relating to Hong Kong and the hearing will be conducted in accordance with regulations.

When asked if it should be an open court hearing, Tam said live-streams are available in many mainland cases and people should pay attention to whether there is a similar arrangement.

Shenzhen authorities announced earlier this month that they charged two of Hongkongers with organising the illegal crossing and eight with crossing the border illegally, while a closed-door hearing will be conducted for the remaining two detainees who are minors.

The twelve have been detained in the mainland for more than four months, after being intercepted by the Guangdong coast guard while allegedly trying to flee from the SAR to Taiwan by speedboat. They were all suspected of or charged with protest-related offences.